DOWNTOWN SPECULATORS SQUEEZING BCIC FOR FREE $$$? AFTER MARTINEZ AND MENDEZ IS IT DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

It never fails. When local real-estate speculators – like former City of Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez and current mayor Trey Mendez – smell free money or an angle to get it almost for free, they will come sniffing out the cash.

Remember when Martinez voted to sell himself a tax-delinquent property so he could sell it for a nice profit regardless of the conflict of interest inherent in that?  https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2017/01/how-mayor-voted-to-sell-himself-tax.html

And remember when Mendez and former city manager's office Director of Government and Community Affairs Ramiro Gonzalez were caught when they tried to get $200,000 in grants from the Brownsville Community Investment Corporation (BCIC) but removed it from the agenda when Cameron County D.A. Luis V. Saenz suddenly appeared at the board meeting when they were considering their request?  http://brownsvilleobserver.blogspot.com/2021/09/

That same behavior, apparently, applies to their pals in the banking business and real-estate world.

Just this past week, on Tuesday January 26, one of them – Director of Texas Regional Bank Carlos Varela – threw a hairy after BCIC board members declined to hand over $200,000 in Business Improvement and Growth (BIG) 2.0 Program funds from previous non-compliant grant awardees and to utilize rescinded funds to activate vacant buildings and to fund active projects that did not receive the full amount.

After approving that agenda item and rescinding $260,000 from two non compliant awardees, the BCIC board members moved to award $80,000 of those recovered funds to Varco, an LLC where Varela is listed as a controlling partner.

Varela – whose Origo Works Properties owns The Lofts refurbished commercial property at the corner of 11th and Adams streets – wanted the $200,000 to establish a Tropical Smoothie Cafe in the lower floor of the bottom floor of the three-story building which is listed as being owned by Varco 1224 Adams LLC, according to the Secretary of State.

The Lofts were refurbished commercial buildings that were supposed to enhance student housing opportunities for those attending the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley at Brownsville, a plan long advocated by former mayor Martinez who saw some real-estate opportunities to make some cold, hard cash.

Sources say that when the board members were reluctant to raise the ante from $80,000 to $200,000, Varela declined the lower amount and said he would not bring the Tropical Smoothie franchise to downtown Brownsville on the bottom floor of the Lofts unless they gave him the larger amount.

As we said earlier, Varela is well known to City of Brownsville elected officials and he has attempted to drum up business with the city for his bank.

Now he is making noises that the BCIC board's denial of the $200,000 might mean he won't be able to bring the proposed development of his three downtown real-estate speculative properties which he claims amounts totals $6,250,000. In fact, that development – dubbed Project Horseshoe – was considered by the BCIC's Economic Development Committee June 8, 2022, which recommended that the BCIC board approve $540,800 for Fiscal Year 2023 and another $135,200 for FY 2024, a total of $676,000.

That's besides the $200,000 he wanted, would bring the total he is asking for to close to $1 million, compliments of the city residents who pay the quarter-cent sales tax by which the BCIC funds its projects and pay for its operations and administration. But is handing over even $80,000 to a franchise (Tropical Smoothie Cafe) estimated
to be worth close to $1 billion (with a B) the purpose of the BIG 2.0 Program grants?

Remember, Varela is not only the owner of the Lofts building, he is also the holder of the South Texas Tropical Smoothie franchises, who would end up being his tenant. Why should the sales tax proceeds of Brownsville residents subsidize a national billion-dollar franchise?

It's not like Varela hasn't been the beneficiary of the city and BCIC largesse. Our seven readers might well remember that his Origo Works was thrust upon the Brownsville South Padre Island International Airport Project by Martinez that resulted in a five-month delay in its construction and – along with other enlargements – inflated the cost of the project from $38 to $50 million. Origo Works was hired to "incorporate" local features into the original design.

James Kirshbaum, the engineer for CH2MHILL, the general contractor for the airport improvements wrote:
"As requested by the mayor (Martinez), we engaged Origo Works to help incorporate "local" architectural features and elements into the original design. This effort extended the conceptual design phase of the project by approximately five months, resulting in significant additional efforts by CH2M, Corgan and Origo Works." 

Interestingly, when the city commission was presented with Kirshbaum 's letter, the offending paragraph had been removed and was missing from the missive presented to the rest of the commission. 

Origo Works  listed work done on the mayor's businesses, including Spanky's Burgers and Rincon de la Paz off Palm Boulevard on their website. Both businesses list their principal as Martinez, and list his law firm's address at 1206 E. Van Buren Street as their mailing address. In fact, Origo Works principals – Varela and engineer Javier Huerta –attended St. Joseph's Academy with Martinez's son Trey. 

Martinez got a $2,500 campaign contribution from VArela in his campaing for mayor.

On Feb. 6, 2018, Da Mayor Martinez was at it again. Origo Works was refurbishing a building to set up shop along the frontage road but there was a snag. It did not have enough parking space as required by the city. Without it, as many other would-be business people know, the permits would be denied and no business could take place. Again, knowing Tony paid off.

And to make matters worse, the city property contains a segment of Rose Gowen's Hike and Bike TRail, and would have to be moved. Gowen, uncharacteristically, agreed to move the trial, something she had not agreed when a couple wanted to have access to the expressway frontage road that would have to go over the trail. 

No way, Ray, Rose said. In this case, however, she relented for Tony's friends.

The agenda item placed by Engineering (not Tony?) reads: Consideration and ACTION to execute a License Agreement between the City of Brownsville and Origo Works Properties, LLC. (Engineering).

Under the licensing agreement, the city agreed to let the company "use a part of city property...which lies adjacent to or is anticipated to be part of a continuum of the foregoing‐described major commercial development...which permission it seeks to build and maintain concrete/asphalt parking and landscaped areas which would run along, aside or across City property."

In exchange, Origo Works would build a parking lot, fence, and maintain it for the next five years with one-year options for renewals.

That didn't sit well with the neighboring businesses across the alley/trail.

"The free give-away of city land to Origo Works for parking spaces with no consideration for the existing six business entities affected by this license agreement shows no mercy. These six businesses will no longer be able to access the rear of their buildings including the garbage collections via the alleyway which will be replaced by the relocated hike & bike trail," commented one.

"No notice to the owners, no due diligence by the planning & zoning, or building permits department including the engineering department. WHAT IS GOING ON?"

The same thing that went on in the airport project and the giving away of city property (hike and bike trail) is exactly the same thing that is happening with the BCIC BIG 2.0 Program which is leaning over backwards to give our social and economic connected elite what they so much crave and desire: The password to the BCIC ATM machine to subsidize their downtown real-estate speculation.